Jaeger takes Hargeon by storm! -Event-

Now this was Saffron’s idea of fun..!

The beach was absolutely her favorite place in the whole world. If the blonde could spend all day, every day, soaking up the warm rays of the sun, swimming in the ocean waters, and lounging on a towel on the hot sands, she absolutely would. She was a full blown summer child with a thirst for adventure, and gods all knew how much she needed the distraction of today.

She and Cedric hadn’t really spoken much since their last talk at his condo. A bit here and there, but nothing like how they’d used to. It was killing her to feel so distant from him, but she knew he needed as much time and space as she did to think about the things that had been said between them. Taking a step back from their friendship had been the right thing to do, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t absolutely killing her inside. She couldn’t count the number of times that she’d had to suppress her urge to text him some random thing that she thought would entertain or interest him. The idiot had honestly become such a big part of her life that trying to go through the daily motions without him just made her feel empty.

Or worse: lonely.

Normally she would have joined Serilda, Mythal, Mercury, and Vandrad for a festival like this, but elected not to. Pretty much all of them knew the drama of Saffron’s strained romance with Cedric, and she just didn’t want to risk being asked about it. And she certainly wasn’t about to ask her ex, Addy, to join her for a day at the beach. So instead she decided that today was a personal day to spend with herself, and whatever poor strangers she would inevitably rope into being her friends for the day.

The buxom Fairy Tail mage was more than ready for the setting, sporting a white bikini top with yellow trim that had a sheer coattail that reached to her thighs. The bottom of the bikini was a matching yellow, and her thick blonde hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. The white emblem of her guild was visible on the top of her bare right foot, and her right arm was robotic nearly all the way up to her shoulder. Upon arriving at the event, she’d almost immediately signed herself up for the water gun contest. The gun she was given was an absolutely tiny pistol, but all she’d done was grin at the challenge. The rest of the competitors may have gotten their hands on bigger weapons… but she was willing to bet money that none of them had her military background.

One by one she’d done her part to take out the competition, starting with the dork that had stood out in the wide open, issuing a challenge that came back to bite him firmly in the ass. Then, he was quickly followed by a younger girl in a dark bathing suit that looked like she didn’t really know what she was doing – or like she wanted to be there at all, really. Saffron moved around the makeshift arena like a true master, utilizing every bit of her training to make sure she was rarely seen by anyone until it was far too late, her pistol giving them a money shot’s worth of ammunition to knock them out of the contest before she was back in hiding. It wasn’t very long until…

“Contestant number three has been eliminated! Contestant number nine is our winner!”

Saffron took a couple playful victory bows to the cheer of the small crowd that had been watching the event, smiling wide and even shooting a finger gun and a flirty wink at one of the women that caught her eye. Then, she followed where the rest of the contestants were returning their water guns, doing the same with her own. In the process, she spotted the first two contestants that had been eliminated.

After a moment’s thought, she approached the guy. “Man, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone go down in a water fight nearly as quickly as you did,” Saffron informed him with a playful smirk. “But you got some balls, and I respect that.” Raising her synthetic limb, she offered a chummy fist for him to bump.

Then, she turned and eyed the young, dark haired girl. Saffron’s purple gaze searched her curiously for a moment, an amused – if friendly – grin tugging on one corner of her lips. “So what’s your story, kid? You didn’t really look like you were having much fun out there. Looked more like you’d rather be anywhere else. You alright?”

A dry snort loosed from her nostrils as the man returned her fist bump. “Not sure that’s something you necessarily wanna brag about, buddy,” Saffron retorted, a wry smirk on her face. When he complimented her win, she’d give him a nod of gratitude. “Military training has to be good for something, right?”

Their attention both turned to the younger girl standing nearby, who’s blush was impossible for Saffron to miss. A baby budding lesbian, perhaps, that had become flummoxed from being addressed by the busty blonde? Or maybe just a young girl that was easily intimidated by older, more confident women? Either way, it was precious. The dark haired girl nervously insisted she was fine….

…Only to all but deadpan reveal that her parents were dead. Saffron blinked at the girl once, twice. “Oh. Well, that’s not awkward,” was her only dry-humored response. What else could be said in the face of something like that? Luckily, they were saved from having to unpack that trauma by the sound of an announcer notifying festival goers of an upcoming limbo contest. “Fun is what it is,” she informed the girl with a grin. Saffron loved limbo.

Off the girl wandered in the direction of the event, and Saffron was right behind her. “You comin’, quickdraw?” she called over her shoulder at the blonde man, continuing to tease him playfully, only to guffaw a moment later with the dark haired girl’s question. Was this kid for real? “Nuh uh, that’s bait. I have a lot of plans for today, and none of them involve going to jail. Come back and ask me again in a few years when you’ve reached the age of consent.” In all honesty, the kid probably didn’t even realize the inherent sexual implications behind the topic, but Saffron wasn’t about to take any chances. Gods forbid a passing Rune Knight overhear what appears on the surface to be an inappropriate conversation with a minor. That would be super awkward to explain to Serilda and Mythal.

Thankfully, they arrived at the limbo space shortly after, giving Saffron the perfect excuse to let the subject drop. She accepted her sticker – group two – and joined up with her competitors, grinning ear to ear. Once everyone was ready, the event coordinators cued up the music and off everyone went. Saffron was having the time of her life, shimmying to the music as she bent and ducked and leaned through each pass. It was obvious to anyone who cared to observe such things that this was not her first rodeo to speak, as she had pretty solid form and a smooth execution. Even as the bar got lower and lower, she seemed more than comfortable inching her way along the ground to make it through, twisting and contorting her body to keep from touching the bar.

But as always, limbo was hit and miss with her when it came to cincing victory. Saffron was in excellent shape… but she was also a rather chesty individual, and at the end of the day there was only so many ways she could maneuver her upper torso to keep the large mounds from being disruptive. And sure enough, as she was inching through the sand and doing her best to concave her chest as much as possible, she took a smidge too large a breath. Her chest came up and bumped the rod, knocking it loose from the structure.

“Uuuuuuuuugggghhh,” the blonde groaned in dramatic, exhasperated fashion. “It’s always the fucking tits.” Ah, well. Never let it be said that she was incapable of accepting the L when she’d earned it. She accepted her participation coin as they reset the bar for the next challenger, and Saffron wandered over to the girl, who was being congratulated by the other contestants from her group.

“Aw shit, look at you! Winning your first limbo contest. Good job, kid.” She flashed the girl a grin, then turned to watch the blonde dude finish his own limbo attempt. No matter the outcome, once all three were standing together once more she figured it was time for some actual introductions. “I’m Saffron, by the way. I’ve decided you two are my buddies for the day. What do you guys wanna do next? Looks like there’s volleyball, parasailing, sand castles… Oo, and a swimsuit contest, those are always fun.”

“Oi, my dream team is good for plenty, thank you very much,” Saffron retorted to the man as she reached up and gave either side of her chest a solid cupping. “I mean, have you seen these? Ten out of ten. Almost as fantastic as my hair.” To emphasize, she released her front to flip the thick golden locks over her shoulder. Despite the words that would otherwise sound quite arrogant from most people, the playful smirk and tone of her voice would lend one to think that she was mostly just being silly – though that wasn’t to say she didn’t carry a certain sense of pride in her body image, which Saffron actually worked quite hard to maintain. Still, it would be clear she wasn’t trying to brag so much as she was just trying to be entertaining.

Yet nothing could have been more entertaining than watching him get disqualified for using magic. “Booooo!” she jeered at him, even as she laughed her ass off. “Cheater..!”

After a good, if friendly, laugh at his expense he finally joined the two ladies once more. Even as Saffron was introducing herself, she was also noticing some of the nearby people staring. And not just at her, either. Come to think of it, the man – who called himself Jaeger – did look a little familiar. Luckily, a voice from the crowd put the puzzle pieces together for her: he had been featured in the magazine lately, the same one that Saffron herself had done several photoshoots for over the last year or two. Before she could comment on it, though, they suddenly found themselves becoming surrounded by fans.

While Jaeger scowled and went quiet, Saffron merely gave everyone a friendly wave and smile for the couple of camera flashes that went off. “You guys are real sweet, thanks everyone! We’re not taking pictures right now, so–”

A woman rushed up, practically with stars in her eyes, stopping just short enough of Saffron to be somewhat encroaching on her personal space. “Wait, you’re the drummer for Delinquent Ward, aren’t you?! I’m such a huge fan! Can I get your autograph?!” She pulled out a crumpled napkin and a pen, holding it out to Saffron with excitement.

Saffron chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. For the first time since Saiko and Jaeger had met her, the blonde would appear uncomfortable, some of her boisterous mannerisms becoming somewhat muted and reserved. “Uh.. Yeah, that’s me. Thanks, glad you liked our stuff.” Accepting the napkin, if only cause it felt rude to say no, she gave it a quick signing.

Unfortunately, the fan had more to say. “I was devastated to hear you guys broke up. I heard that Trevor hasn’t been seen at Confidence International in a while. He is okay? He’s not missing or hurt, is he?”

“He’s fine,” Saffron told her, a bit more shortly than she intended. “Well, he’s not fine but he’s not missing or hurt. He just had to go deal with something. I don’t know when he’ll be back. We don’t talk, anymore.”

“Wait, really? Everyone was convinced you two were dating!”

Well, this was a conversation Saffron really didn’t want to have. Before she had to worry about how to dodge questions about Trevor, however, loud shrieks of fright ripped through the air. Saffron could only blink in bewilderment and shock at the sight of the bloating and decayed ghosts. The only reason the blonde didn’t immediately freak out herself was because she had sensed the use of magic from Saiko, who had been standing immediately behind her, nearly hiding from the crowd. Saffron still tensed and adjusted her stance a bit, ready to start a fight at a moment’s notice…

…but the spirits didn’t really do anything but stand there. Instead, all that happened was the people scurried off in a panic, leaving the trio in relative peace. Relaxing, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to look at the girl. “Saiko, your magic is terrifying, your dead eyes are a little unnerving, and you’ve clearly been living under a rock your whole life… but you have impeccable timing. I like you.”

She reached an arm around Saiko’s shoulders and pulled her into a friendly side hug. “Next up: Swimsuit contest!” With her arm still wrapped in a friendly fashion around Saiko’s shoulders, Saffron led the way to the stage where the next contest was being held, only releasing her when they got in line to sign up.

Before long, they were each given numbers in the form of tags that could be pinned to an article of clothing. They walked out in a line and Saffron was immediately back to form once she stepped foot on the stage. She took her place and made several confident poses that emphasized her body, including flexing a few times to show that she actually had quite a bit of muscle tone for a woman. She even made eye contact with a few attractive young women in the front of the audience. “Ladies,” she said with a suave grin, shooting them some playful finger guns.